Last Sunday morning (Aug 4, 2019) we awoke to the horrible news of yet another mass shooting. Our faith calls us to  condemn the hateful climate that’s surfaced in our country. In the days between July 28 and August 4, 2019, thirty-two people were killed, and sixty people were wounded by gunfire from semi-automatic, assault style rifles in Gilroy, California, El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. In 2019 there have been 255 mass shootings, resulting in 273 deaths in the United States of America.* 

In response to this evil, statements of denunciation have been issued, assurances of concern have been delivered, prayers for grief and petitions for comfort have been offered and policy suggestions have been made. Still, the killings continue. Still, families are ripped apart. Still, communities are torn asunder. Still, prayers of grief are offered. Still, petitions for comfort are lifted. Still, hateful rhetoric flows from the seats of power. Still, powerful guns and the bullets that they fire are readily available for purchase.
 
We once again raise our voices in outrage and lament. We are outraged by the notion that nothing can be done. We are outraged by the hateful language directed toward immigrants, people of color and adherents of religions not our own. We are broken by the loss of the life. We grieve with those who grieve. The river of tears that flows touches at the deepest of levels.
 
Yet, we are hopeful. We are hopeful that in the name of faith, hope and justice people will come together. We are hopeful that words of hate will be rejected and refuted. We are hopeful that legislation intended to reduce the gun violence will be enacted. Specifically, we urge the United States Senate to immediately join the House of Representatives in passing the 2019 Background Check Act and the President to reenact the 1994 assault weapons ban that will remove military style, high capacity semi-automatic weapons from civilian use.
 
We stand ready to work for all who work for the common good. May our faith help us build the Beloved Community.

Please join me in signing these petitions, and join us this Sunday in worship, as we pray for strength and courage, and we respond with conscious action to transform the weapons of war, into instruments of peace. 

Blessings, Pastor Laurie 

*According to Gun Violence Archive as reported by the Huffpost, Aug. 5, 2019. (The GVA defines a mass shooting as any incident in which at least four people were shot, excluding the shooter.  This puts 2019 on pace to be the first year since 2016 with an average of more than one mass shooting a day. (CBS News, Aug. 5)

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Articles and petitions for gun controls:

https://www.ucc.org/join_the_network

We need more than thoughts and prayers, congress needs to hear from you,  to support the consideration and passage of S.42, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019. 

https://p2a.co/Odl2rJH

https://giffords.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Giffords-HR-8-Factsheet-FINAL.pdf

The Democratic majority in the House has sent Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell TWO gun reform bills to close loopholes and establish universal background checks. But McConnell has refused a vote on either.

https://go.barbaraleeforcongress.org/page/s/sign-your-name-demand-senate-republicans-take-action-on-gun-control

Gun Violence by the Numbers

• Each year over 30,000 Americans are killed by guns. (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) 
• More U.S. citizens have died in the last 50 years by guns in our homes, streets and schools than have died in the history of all U.S. wars. (Congressional Research Service and CDC/National Center for Health Statistics)
• Firearms are the second leading cause of death (after motor vehicle accidents) for young people age 19 and under in the U.S. (CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control)
• 8 American children and teens age 19 and under are killed by guns every day. (CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control)
• A child/teen is killed or injured by a gun every 30 minutes (Children’s Defense Fund)
• Newtown Happens Every Week in America. More children die every 3 days in America by a gun than died in the December 14, 2012 Newtown massacre. (Children’s Defense Fund)
• Nearly two-thirds of all gun deaths are suicides. (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)
• More guns = more suicides. People in states with many guns have elevated rates of suicide, particularly firearm suicide. (Harvard School of Public Health Study)
• For each time a gun in the home was used for a protective shooting, there were:
  • 4 unintentional shootings
  • 7 criminal assaults or homicides
  • 11 suicides (Journal of Trauma, 1998)
• 60% of those who own a gun give personal safety/protection as top reason for ownership. (2013 Gallup Poll)
• Gun violence costs the U.S. $229 billion annually. (Mother Jones and Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation)
• There are more than 300 million guns in civilian hands in the United States today. (Congressional Research Service) 

There is only one thing wrong with the traditional definition of prayer: it misrepresents God.  “Prayer,” the old teaching said, was “the raising of our hearts and minds to God.”  As if God were some regal, distant judge outside ourselves.  But science – with its new perception that matter and spirit are of a piece, sometimes particles, sometimes energy – suggests that God is not on a cloud somewhere, imperious and suspecting.  God is the very Energy that animates us.  God is not a white heterosexual male who lives in the US. God is the Spirit that leads us and drives us on.  God is the voice within us calling us to Life.  God is the Reality trying to come to fullness within us, both individually and together.  It is to that cosmic God, that personal inner, enkindling God, that we pray.

Join us this Sunday, as we explore prayer, contemplation, and meditation together, and have a conversation after worship about it.

What do you cherish?

What would it take for you to recognize it?

My epiphany came in the form of large, iridescent glossy black birds, ravens to be precise.

Over a year ago, a pair of ravens started visiting our back deck to snatch tidbits of food left for the jays. I called them Tristan and Isolde. I watched them, fascinated by their behavior. If one came, it waited for the other to arrive before eating. They spoke to each other in their corvid dialect and it wasn’t hard to see they were having a conversation as a couple. They seemed to cherish each other deeply.

Now most of you know we’ve had a tough time with my spouse’s cancer. Sometimes between all the medical visits, chemotherapy appointments, challenges and stresses the little things – like cherishing each other – get lost.

One afternoon I was helping my spouse get washed up, chatting with him, when I looked out the window. Tristan and Isolde sat on the branches of the redwood tree, snuggled close, chortling and whispering strange vocalization as they carefully preened each other. And it hit me: I could learn a lot about marital bliss from these birds.

I made a conscious effort to hug my spouse, to be kind and patient, to care for him like the birds did for each other. It has helped me to understand that in these days, every moment together is golden. Cherish those you love. Tell them you love them.

Post Note:

This past week Tristan and Isolde surprised us: they guided two fully-fledged raven chicks to our deck to visit. A family to cherish… and we have a whole new set of examples to follow. 

By David G.

From The Rev. Dr. Arlene K. Nehring, pastor at Eden UCC:  We have a new asylum seeker in our midst. Her name is Rihana. She is a friend of the family we are supporting at Eden UCC in Hayward.

Rihana is a 21 year old transgender woman who is a native of Chinandega, Nicaragua. She came to the US on April 11, 2019 seeking asylum after having been the victim of a hate crime in her home country. Rihana was beaten by five men, her throat was slit with a broken bottle, and she was left for dead in a rural area. She was taken to a regional hospital where she remained in a coma for two days, and continued to be treated for another 7 days. (She has letters from a clinical psychologist and photos taken at a hospital in Nicaragua documenting her trauma.) After she recovered enough from her injuries to travel, Rihana made her way to the US. She crossed the border  into Arizona and was taken into custody by ICE on April 11, 2019. She appeared in immigration court in detention. The judge ruled that she has “a credible fear” and granted her humanitarian parole provided that she pay a $10,000 bond. We will seek legal aid to transfer her immigration case to the SF court. We were able to negotiate the bail down to $1500 and find a church in NYC (Park Avenue Christian Church) that would put up the bond money. Rihana was released 12 hours later at the PHX bus station, where two advocates who are friends of a friend of mine (a pastor who is also an asylee) picked her up, took her to an emergency shelter, and cared for her since early last Tuesday morning. A member of my church donated money to cover air fare for Rihanna. She is flying to Oakland tonight.

Collaborators: Pastor Arlene Nehring & Stephanie Spencer, and Pastor Marvin Lance Wiser & Yuliana Wiser Leon (EUCC, Hayward), Pastor Rhina Ramos (Ministerio Latinx, Oakland), Pastors Eric Sherlock and Todd Adkins-Whitley (Danville Congregational Church UCC), and Pastor Laura Rose (First Congregational Church Alameda.) 

Institutional Partners: Eden United Church of Christ, Hayward, Danville Congregational Church UCC, and First Congregational UCC Alameda. 

Immediate Needs:

1. Hospitable housing in the Bay Area, i.e., use of a guest room with kitchen and bathroom privileges, or a room in a guest house. The host(s) need not be fluent Spanish speakers, but they do need to be LGBT friendly folks.
2. Cash and/or in-kind help with food, clothing, telephone, transportation  
3. Coaching to acquire healthcare benefits and services (Eden Church can provide coaching for new volunteers as needed)
4. Legal aid (Pastor Rhina, Pastor Marvin, and Pastor Arlene have begun a search for legal representation). If pro bono counsel can be found, funds will be needed to cover various application fees. 
5. Court accompaniment (Eden Church will take the lead, but we need bodies to pack the court when she is required to appear.)
6. Cultural navigation support (We can train trainers.)

Immigration ministry is intense. None of us can do this alone. I recommend reflecting on what we CAN do, rather than what we can NOT do—always mindful that through God all things are possible.

Please let me know if you would like to discuss this invitation.

Thank you, 

Arlene

The Rev. Dr. Arlene K. Nehring

Senior Minister

Eden United Church of Christ  510-582-9533 

This Sunday we are celebrating Pentecost!  Early on in the service, to honor the diversity of people from all over the world, I will invite people to greet each other, speaking  in various “tongues” besides English.  Please, come and open us to new ways of saying, “Good morning!” “How are you?”  In anticipation of the power of this Sunday, I am reminded of the words of William Blake: 

Unless the eye catch fire, God will not be seen.

Unless the ear catch fire, God will not be heard.

 Unless the tongue catch fire, God will not be named.

 Unless the heart catch fire, God will not be loved.

 Unless the mind catch fire, God will not be known.

May we all be kindled in the fire of God’s love!  with love, Pastor Lauri